One-Litre F3 Historic Racing Association

19th-20th March 2015 - Goodwood

The Goodwood F3 Thriller

The Historic Formula 3 field delivered the finish of the weekend at the 73rd Members’ Meeting at Goodwood when James King pipped Simon Armer by 18-thousandths of a second in a dash to the line.

For the first time since the early summer of 1966, 1-litre F3 cars raced at Goodwood during the second Members’ Meeting of the modern era and delivered a fabulous spectacle. A capacity 30-car field of immaculately presented cars gathered at the Sussex track and a thrilling race late on Sunday morning delighted the sell-out crowd of 16,000.

In his formative years, Derek Bell was a winner in 1-litre F3 races at his local track and the race was rightly named in his honour. The five-time Le Mans winner was there to see the race and even watched his old Lotus 41 race in the hands of Barry Sewell. “I really want to watch this race: it’s where it all started for me and the cars are so pretty. It’s a wonderful era,” said Bell as the cars gathered in the assembly area.

The star of qualifying was Armer (March 703) who used some prior circuit knowledge to great effect and took pole by seven-tenths of a second. Frenchman Thierry Gallo quickly found his feet on the fast and flowing track to put his Tecno second on the grid after his first 10 laps of Goodwood. King, in Tony Mantle’s Chevron B17, was third best ahead of Robs Lamplough (Brabham BT28). Rob was one of the only drivers racing at the Members’ Meeting who competed at Goodwood in period. Tim Kary (Brabham BT28) and Peter Thompson (Brabham BT21) wrapped up the top six.

The field lined up on the grid made a glorious sight and Armer wasted no time in converting pole into a first-corner lead as Gallo and King slotted in behind. King was quickly through to second as these three cars edged clear of the pack, with Thompson and Ian Bankhurst (Alexis Mk8) next up.

While battles raged all down the field, Armer broke the tow to King and was looking good as Gallo spun at Madgwick when challenging King for second. The Tecno fell down the order, but everything was soon to be bunched up again when the safety car was deployed to allow Kary’s stricken car to be moved from the chicane.

From the re-start, a fabulous seven-car leading pack echoed the 1-litrw F3 racing of the 1960s as Armer again set the pace. King ran second from Thompson as Bankhurst headed Lamplough and the closing Gallo, who jumped ahead of Francois Derossi (Chevron B17) for sixth place. A couple of seconds further back was another mighty five-car pack featuring Christoph Widmer (Brabham BT18A), Jon Waggitt (Brabham BT18), Max Blees (Brabham BT15), Jim Blockley (Brabham BT21B). (Keith Messer in the Vesey dropped of this group when a plug lead jumped off).

Up front, Armer seemed to have things under control, but King kept chasing and was well in touch as they raced down Lavant Straight for the final time. Into the chicane, Armer made a small mistake and it cost him the race. The March went a fraction too deep into the chicane, locked a wheel and just lost a little momentum as King jinked left for the sprint to the flag. King got the verdict by 18-thousandths of a second. “He made one error all day and it counted,” said King.

King was elated to win this landmark race. “I watched Ronnie Peterson, Tim Schenken and Reine Wisell race these cars at Monaco in 1969,” said the American racer. Armer was a dejected second after a tremendous performance. “I didn’t know it was the last lap. I just outbraked myself very slightly and it compromised my exit from the chicane,” he said.

Thompson completed the podium party and was close enough to see the last lap drama. “I’m sorry for Simon; he had that in the bag,” said Thompson. A little way back, Lamplough just fended off Bankhurst and Gallo for fourth as six-tenths of a second covered the three cars.

Paul Lawrence

View Results and Timings (as a PDF document) [PDF]



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